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Spello - Che Bello! Spello (half-day) Assisi/Spello (full-day) As we head up to the main square,
our walk through the town will include stops to meet and talk with
local artisans. Piazza del Comune, Assisi's main piazza, is graced
by its medieval bell tower, elegant civic buildings of the 13th-14th
c. and the stately Temple of Minerva, 1st c. BC... so amazing that
Goethe detoured just to gaze on it! Near the 13th c. Gothic Basilica
di Santa Chiara (where St. Clare of Assisi is buried), we'll stop
in to see a significant tribute to Assisi's involvement in modern
history: the printing press which falsified the identity documents
for all the Jews hidden here in World War II, thanks to the heroic
efforts of the local bishop, young priests and the printer and his
son....the Assisi Underground. . Then, on to Spello for lunch in a delightful family-run trattoria and our tour (see above half-day tour). Spoleto/Spello (full-day) Our visit will start, appropriately, back in time - with a visit to one of the oldest churches in Western Europe (4th - 5th c. AD) outside of the medieval walls. We'll take in the 14th c. medieval aqueduct, imposing feudal fortress and the Renaissance masterpieces of Fra' Lippo Lippi and Pinturicchio in the Duomo... the local market... and a taste of a local specialty. Lunch in a local trattoria specializing in truffles and other dishes typical of the area... and then on to Spello for the afternoon (see above half-day tour). Gubbio/Spello (full-day) Spello/Mountaintop Castle-village
(half-day) We'll then head onto Spello (che
bello!). Our walk through Spello will include a visit to my
favorite friar who will show us his creations and then to the studio
of a Spello painter whose work is created on most unusal surfaces
(you'll be amazed...). Comments "We
thoroughly enjoyed our special day in Assisi and Spello, with highlights
too numerous to mention. Thanks to knowledgeable and accessible
Annie, we saw and experienced more in our time with her than in
any other tour we have ever taken. Most importantly, we had
lots of fun; the wine tasting was a blast." "One
special memory of our trip to Italy is of walking up a street in
bellissimo Spello when we met this little old man who starts
talking to Anne in Italian, saying he was a poet. He started reciting
poetry to Anne who translated for us. After, he took us back to
his house and his storeroom to taste some of his wine. which he
also gave us as a gift. You do not get that kind of experience
on your own, with a tour, or even with any of the 'normal' guides!"
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Like
Assisi, Spello is constructed in the local pink limestone quarried
on Mt. Subasio, lending it a unique rosy hue, particularly at sunset.
Called Hispellum by the Romans, a walk through Spello is
a feast for the eye: cobblestone passageways open into intimate
closed piazzettas, and lead to Roman arches, Romanesque churches,
a wooden loggia, a frescoed courtyard...
Along
the way, a stop to taste local delicacies - wild boar salami, pecorino
(sheep's milk) and truffle cheeses, local liqueurs, truffle paté-
and then a stop to observe two fine young artisans at work. Acclaimed
as two of the most-gifted ceramicists in Italy, their gold-incised
black bucchero (Etruscan technique) astounds. Few tourists
in Gubbio since no railway lines run through here.... After our
tour through Gubbio... on to Spello (about 1-1/4 hr by car)... for
our tour (as described in Spello, half-day). 
We
will start our tour with a drive along a mountainside covered with
olive groves, climbing to a walled castle-village (pop: approx.
45!) for a walk through a "world-apart", stopping to talk with the"locals".